Stella and the Minx #28:

The Adventures of Blackout and Sunbeam

 

Our story so far: Stellar Man and Night Fox were the greatest heroes of the 60s but in the 70s their female counterparts Stella and Minx took over! 

But now the Minx is missing and someone else must take her place!

This is the story of the Sentinel Sisters: the Dark Avenger and the Light Crusader…

 

BLACKOUT and SUNBEAM!

Blackout 2Sunbeam 2

 

Marcus Lycus

(Marcus_Lycus@hotmail.com)

June 2009

 

Issue 28 – The Adventures of Blackout and Sunbeam

 

“Bring her in.”  Boss Bruno commanded.

The two soldiers carried in the unconscious woman by the arms, her feet dragged along the floor.  Her head rolled from side to side and a bit of drool ran down her chin.  He grabbed her short brown hair and wrenched her head up.  He took a good look at her.

“So she’s the one?  This little cunt’s been causing all those problems for us.”

“Her and that other one.”

“Yeah.  Where is her partner anyway?”

“Got her in the guest room.”

***

Sunbeam slowly opened her eyes and rubbed her head.  The last thing she remembered was fighting some crooks in an alleyway.  She’d just blinded them when…  “I guess someone hit me.”  She looked around.  She was in a sparse bedroom.  Besides the bed she was in, there was a makeup table, a mirror on the wall and two doors.  One was open and led to a small bathroom, the other was closed and locked.

“Great.”  She sat up.  She was still wearing her costume, a red and yellow leotard with wrist-length gloves and matching boots.  She checked the hidden compartments in her gloves and her thighs.  Her flash bombs were gone.  She checked the compartments in her boot heels, the lock-picks were gone too.  Not that it mattered, she’d never learned how to use them anyway.

It was official then, she was a prisoner.  Somehow though she felt calm.  Almost unnaturally calm.  She’d talked to her sister Natalie about being captured, what might happen, what they would do.  She knew she just had to wait for her chance.  Anything else was a waste of energy.

The door opened, Sunbeam turned, Boss Bruno strode in.

Boss Bruno

 

“So you’re the little girl who caused me all that trouble.”

Sunbeam tried to remember the plans she’d made with her sister.  She knew she couldn’t show fear.  She had to stand up to them, let them know she wouldn’t be cowed.

“Let me go now or-OOF!”

Boss Bruno punched her in the stomach and she doubled over.  He grabbed her head in his meaty paws and slammed it hard against the concrete wall.  Then he shoved the dazed girl to the floor and stomped on her back a few times.

Finally, when she stopped moving, he reached down and grabbed her hair and pulled her up. 

“Sorry, you wuz saying something?”

The girl sobbed. 

He rammed her face onto the table with a loud THUMP!  He bent over and whispered in her ear.

“Hello Dawn.”

“Y-you know-“

“Dawn Lux, sister of Natalie Lux.  You two live in a your dad’s old place just out of town.”

“But-“

“You really shouldn’t try to sneak around rooftops dressed in bright yellow.  My men followed you home a week ago.  Had you under surveillance since then.”

“Oh god…”

He pulled her up by her hair again and made her face at the mirror.  Bruises were already forming.  “You’re mine now, you got that?”

“L-let me go!”  She yelled, her voice cracking with fear.

WHAM!

He slammed her against the table again and lifted her up.  He snapped his fingers.

On the other side of the mirror the lights went on.  The one-way mirror became transparent.  It took a second for the dazed girl to understand what she was looking at.

It was a bare cement room.  Racks on the walls held tools, chains, ropes and whips.  And in the center…

“Natalie!”

The brunette was unconscious, her hands bound to a metal pole that hung from the ceiling.  Two cruel-looking thugs watched over her.  Boss Bruno snapped his fingers again and the lights went out, the mirror became normal.

“Understand now?”

“Please!  Let her go!  It’s not her fault!  It was all my idea!”

“Worried about her huh?”

“Please!  I’ll do anything you want!”

“Take off your leotard.”

Sunbeam froze.

“Oh, so that’s how it is.”  Bruno turned to leave.

“No, wait, just-“

He turned his head.  “Girl, if I wanted you naked, I’d rip that super suit off you myself.  All I want to know is if you’ll play ball.  Cause if you don’t…”

“I’ll do it!”  The blonde screamed.  “I’ll do it…”

She hung her head low and sobbed a few times.  How had it come to this?  How had it all fallen apart so fast?

“Well?”

It was a yellow and red leotard, the matching twin to her sister’s blue and grey outfit.  It was cut high on her hips and had no shoulder straps to give her maximum freedom of movement.  She’d found it was useful for her gymnastics and judo moves.  She also loved the way it flattered her figure.  And now it was the only thing between her slender body and the hulking crime boss in front of her. Not to mention the goons surrounding her.  Dawn felt very small and very vulnerable.  Not like a superheroine at all.

She reached behind and felt for the zipper.  She pulled it down.  One hand went reflexively to hold the front, to keep herself covered as long as she could. 

They were all looking at her.  One was licking his lips.  She turned around.  Staring only at the blank wall she pulled the leotard down.  She peeled it off of her hips and then pulled it down her legs.  She stepped out of it and turned around, one hand over her breasts, one over her pelvis.  She shivered.

“Come on!  Show us your tits!”  One thug yelled.  Boss Bruno shot him a look and the thug fell silent.

“Please…”  Sunbeam whined, she wasn’t sure how to end that sentence.  Please don’t hurt me?  Please don’t hurt my sister?  Please let this be a bad dream?  All of the above?

Boss Bruno raised his hand, Sunbeam winced, waiting for another blow, instead he tenderly stoked her light brown hair.  “Come here Dawn.”  He pulled her close and put a hand on her back.

“You and me, we’re going to be friends okay?  And I don’t hurt my friends.”  She nodded helplessly.  “Put your arms around me.”  The blond girl helplessly complied, pushing her body closer to his to hide her nakedness from his thugs.

“Good, now kiss my neck.”

Dawn meekly complied.  The crime boss’ skin was rough and stank of cheap cologne.  She kissed it a few times, pressing her slender body against his hulking one, feeling his hand on her ass, trying to forget the thugs around them.  She knew she could endure this, almost, if only they were alone.

“Nibble on my ear.”  Boss Bruno rumbled.

He had disgusting cauliflower ears, crushed by his years as an underground wrestler, Dawn gagged when she saw it but managed to squeeze her eyes shut and give it a lick.  He stomach churned.  How had it come to this!?  Where had they gone wrong?

***

It was a pretty typical night for Blackout and Sunbeam.  There’d been a string of robberies in the jewelry district so they were staking out the rooftops, hoping to catch the gang in the act.

“Natalie all I’m saying is maybe she’s in trouble.  No one’s seen the Minx for weeks, not since she escaped from jail.  Maybe she was captured or something.”

“Geeze Dawn, didn’t you hear her?  She doesn’t want our help, she doesn’t need our help, she thinks we should stay home and watch General Hospital.  Besides she’s already got a partner, let Stella worry about her.”

“Well what about Stella?  We could go find her and offer to help.”

“What?  Us lowly mortals helping the girl of the stars?  What does she need us for?  She can search the whole city with her x-ray eyes and never even have to leave her chair.”

“But…”

“Face it Dawn, the Minx had her chance and she blew it!  Whatever happened to her the fact is she’s not here now, she’s not protecting the city, we are.  And maybe by the time she comes back the city won’t need her anymore.  Maybe by the time she comes back we’ll finally be getting the respect we deserve.  And we’ll get it without sleeping with some geriatric superhero so we can take his place.”

“Natalie!  You don’t really believe those stories-“

“Why not?  You saw the way she dressed, the way she acted.  And one of my contacts on the police force tells me she screwed Detective Mulligan, right there in his office.  I bet her whole reputation is made up, she probably slept with half the reporters in the Daily Comet to get all that press.”

“Oh uh, speaking of reporters…  I ran into Timmy O’Leary.  He says he wants to put me in the Daily Comet’s Sunday Magazine.  The cover.  Pretty cool huh?  He says I’ve got a really good look.”

“Hmph.  If you spent as much time working on your crime-fighting skills as you did on your suntan we’d be much better off.”

“Natalie!  I told you I’m Sunbeam, I have to look tan and healthy, it’s part of my image!  Y’know I can ask him about putting you on too if that’s what bothering you.  I’m sure he’ll say yes.”

“No, forget it.  I prefer the shadows.”  Blackout sulked for a few minutes.  “He’s just trying you get into your pants you know.”

“Huh, you think?”

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you, he’s a creep.”

“Timmy’s not a creep!”

“That’s not what my sources at the Daily Comet say.  They say he’s been sleeping with Princess Patriot for months.”

“What?  No way!  Princess Patriot doesn’t do that kind of stuff.”

“That’s not what they say.  Plus he’s got some girl from the typing pool on the side.  So whatever, go off and be the next notch on his bedpost.  Ruin our reputation as serious heroines, be just like your idol the Minx.  See if I care.”

“Natalie I-“

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

A burglar alarm interrupted the sisters’ bickering. 

“Over there on Rozakis street.  Let’s go!”

Sunbeam bounded after her sister through the Megapolis night.  Despite their bickering Dawn loved these patrols with her sister.  There was something about putting on a mask and a costume, racing above the streets, that made her feel powerful.  When she was in her Sunbeam costume she just felt more confident, stronger, braver, more skilled.  Sure she’d studied gymnastics in school and taken some karate classes but when she put her costume on she could take on guys twice her size and never break a sweat.

She could hear the alarm it was close now, she could even hear the sound of shoe leather hitting pavement as the robbers fled.

Blackout was ahead of her, she reached the end of the roof and somersaulted off in into the alley below.

By the time Sunbeam reached the edge, the alleyway was already shrouded in darkness.  She could hear her sister’s words rising from the black cloud.

“You criminals think the darkness is your friend, you think the shadows are your home, blah, blah, blah afraid of the dark!”

Dawn wondered if the crooks would be as scared if they knew how long Natalie spent in front of the mirror practicing her little speeches.  She shook her head and jumped off the edge of the roof.

She tumbled twice and landed lightly on her feet. 

Amazing. 

A 30’ drop and she was fine.  There really was something about wearing a costume…

As usual one of the crooks broke and ran, firing his pistol wildly.  And as usual Sunbeam was waiting for him.

“Aw was it too scary in the dark?  Well maybe it’s time to turn on the li-AH!”

Something hit her from behind and the world went dark.  Her slim body collapsed in a heap onto the filthy pavement.

“Sunbeam?  Dawn!”  Blackout finished off her crook with a vicious kick between the legs and ran forward, something had happened to her sister!

“Hey there Blackout.”

There were five of them, with pistols aimed at her.  Worse yet one of them had Dawn by the hair and was pointing a gun at her head.  Blackout heard footsteps behind her, four more crooks filled the alleyway cutting off her escape.  She palmed a blackout bomb from the strap on her thigh.

“I wouldn’t try that if I was you.  Sure you can blind us, but at this range…”  he prodded Sunbeam with his pistol “…I don’t think I’ll miss.”

Blackout’s mind raced, she had to distract the leader, get him to let Dawn go, then she could worry about the goons.  “What’s the matter, you’re not man enough to take me alone?  You need your-OW”

One of the goons pistol-whipped her from behind.  Another swung a baseball bat across the back of her knees.  Blackout collapsed face-first into the gutter. She rolled and got ready to kick.

“Stay down girl.  As long as you don’t fight back, Sunbeam doesn’t get a .38 caliber head massage.”

Blackout froze.  It was all the opening the goons needed.

Kicks and blows rained down on her, she grabbed a man’s ankle but was too weak to hold on.  Her vision got blurry, she spat out a tooth, she tasted blood. 

Then rough hands seized her arms and dragged her to her knees.  The lead thug swaggered up to her, still dragging Sunbeam like a rag doll.

“Let her go…”  Blackout hissed.  “I’m the one you want, she’s just helping me.”

The thug dropped Sunbeam and pulled a hypodermic needle out of his jacket pocket.  He held it up, checked it and smiled at Blackout.

“Honey, the simple fact is Boss Bruno wants both of you.  He’s got big plans and I’d hate for you to miss them.”

“NO!  Let her go!  Let her go!  Take me!  Take me damnit!”  She tried to shake off the goons but they were too strong, she was too weak, everything hurt!  She felt the needle slip into her shoulder and then everything went away.

***

Blackout moaned and cracked her eyes.  Her arms hurt.  Her whole body hurt.  She cracked her eyes wider and winced at the light.  But she squinted and looked around.  She was hanging from her arms in a ‘Y’ shape.  Her wrists were strapped to a metal bar suspended from the ceiling. Her feet dangled a foot or two off the floor.  She noted their mistake.  They hadn’t tied her legs!  To someone with her karate training her feet were just as deadly as her hands.  She tried moving a leg but it barely twitched.  Everything felt a bit numb, a bit weak.  No doubt the drugs they’d given her were still slowing her down.  No matter, she just needed some time to recover her strength.

Turning her head she could see several thugs standing around leering at her.  She recognized one or two as men she’d busted during her nightly patrols.  And normal woman would be scared or intimidated but not Blackout.  She knew they wouldn’t really hurt her, crooks knew better than to mess with a superheroine.  They’d just hold her until she could escape or until help came.  She just had to stay calm. 

***

Sunbeam sat on Boss Bruno’s lap, still pressing her bare breasts against his chest.  Still kissing his rough skin. 

“You love your sister don’t you?”

“Um, yes?”

“Do anything for her right?”

“Um…”

“That ain’t too enthusiastic Dawn…”  He took one of her arms and twisted, the girl winced in pain.

“Y…yes…”  Dawn didn’t like where this was going.

Boss Bruno put his meaty hands on her shoulders and shoved her off his lap, the slim girl tumbled to the floor.

“Recognize him?”  Bruno pointed at one of his men.  The guy grinned at the girl at his feet.

“Um…”

“His name’s Tucker.  Bout a week ago you blinded him and kicked him in the nuts.  Poor Tuck couldn’t walk right or see right for a week.”

“Oh.”

“Say you’re sorry.”

“Um, I’m sorry.  Um… sir?”

The men chuckled.

“I don’t think she means it boss.  Betcha we could get her sister to say sorry.  Betcha we could get her to say it real loud.”  Tucker and the others laughted.

“No…”

“Now, now you love your sister right?”

“Yes!”

“Then kneel down and tell Tucker how sorry you are.”

Dawn’s knees were shaking so badly it was almost a relief to kneel down.  Now if only her body would stop shaking too.  He breasts were practically swinging like pendulums!

“Please, um Mr. Tucker, I’m really, really sorry.  I um, promise I won’t do it ever again.  Please…”

“Kiss my feet Dawn.”

“Um, OK.”  She bent over, and gave each of his shoes a little kiss.  She rose up and looked at him again.

“Now suck my dick.”

“What?!”

SMACK!

Tucker hit the girl hard enough to knock her on her side.  Then he kicked her in the gut.  Finally he grabbed her hair and pulled her back on her knees.  The girl was crying hysterically by then.  Tucker unzipped.

“Now suck it bitch!  Suck it or I swear to God I’ll make you beg to suck my dick!  You and your bitch sister!”

“No, plea-“  Dawn never finished the sentence, Tucker grabbed her by the hair and jammed her face into his crotch.

“Come on bitch, suck it, suck it or I swear to God I’ll pry out your damn teeth and make you a full-time cock sucking machine, I mean it.”

The terrified girl opened her mouth a crack, it was all Tucker needed.  He jammed his dick down her throat and pushed and pulled her head up and down it.  The terrified girl almost gagged on the man-meat but managed to keep from biting down.  She knew that would mean her life, and her sister’s.

Finally her mouth filled with the warm salty taste of his cum.

“Lick it clean bitch!  Lick it!”

Crying Dawn applied her tongue to the twitching dick the filled her mouth, trying not to gag, not to puke.  Finally he pulled her head loose and tossed her to the floor.

“Slut!”  He said and kicked her.

“Now, now Tucker.  The little girl did her best, didn’t you Dawn?”

Dawn just gasped on the floor.  Boss Bruno knelt down next her, suddenly the very model of sympathy and understanding.

“Now Dawn, I know you’re in a tough spot right now, but if you care for your sister, or for yourself, you’d better answer.”

Dawn looked at the crime boss through slit eyes, with him kneeling like that she could think of a dozen karate moves that would knock him out, even kill him.

But none of them would help, the other men would kill her, then her sister.  No, she had to play along.  She had to.

“I… I’ll do my best.  I promise.”

“There, there, that’s all we ask Dawn.  And it’s not like you won’t have a second chance.”  He pointed at another thug.  “I’m sure you remember Pete, you broke his arm and left him for the cops.”

Dawn couldn’t remember the man, all her opponents were just a blur.  But she nodded mutely. 

“And Dan over there, you blinded him, beat him up and left him locked in a dumpster.”

Dawn nodded again.

“But we can let bygones be bygones can’t we boys?”

The two men chuckled evily.  They got out of their chairs.

“Why don’t the three of you kiss and make up?”

One of them threw Dawn onto the cot, they both pulled down their pants.

Dawn’s eyes went wide in terror.

“Now Dawn, you do want to make up don’t you?  For your sake and your sister’s?”

“Y-yes?”

“That’s a good girl.  Now show them how much you want it.”

Dawn swallowed her fear, swallowed her pride, she’d gone this far, she could do this…

She sat up.  She forced herself to smile.  She put her hands on her breasts.

“C-come on…”  She said, her voice cracking.  “What are you waiting for?”

Pete and Dan high-fived and shoved her back down.  Pete pulled her legs apart while Dan forced his cock into her mouth.

And Dawn tried to pretend she was enjoying it.

***

The door opened and Blackout looked up wearily.  It was Boss Bruno.  Her heart sank.  She’d been hoping she’d been captured by some random thugs but Boss Bruno made things was far, far worse.

Besides his drug and numbers rackets he ran most of the brothels and strip clubs in Megapolis, he had a reputation for taking girls.  Taking them, and breaking them.

And he was smiling at her.

She snarled back.

“So you’re the little dame who’s been making all the trouble for my boys.  Funny, you’re even smaller than your sister.”

So they did have her!  Or at least they wanted her to think they did.  Blackout’s hopes dimmed further.  But Blackout swallowed and glared back at him.  “That’s nothing compared to the trouble you’re in now Bruno.”

“Oh?  Tell me babe, what kind of trouble am I in?”

“We’re heroines.  And we stick together.  If we don’t report in by sunrise Stella, Princess Patriot and all the rest will know we’re in trouble and they’ll come looking for you.  It won’t take long to find us with stellar sight.  Your men are pretty good at hitting a girl from behind, how are then when half the superheroes in Megapolis bust down the door?”

Bruno actually looked concerned for a second but then the smile came back.  “Nice one, nice one.”  He walked around the bound heroine, admiring how her tight leotard showed off her athletic body.  “And y’know if you were a real heroine I might believe it.  But word on the street is you’ve got no one.  Word on the street is you’ve been begging the Minx to let you join and she turned you down flat.  Turned you down…”  SMACK!  He whacked her butt.  “… cause you don’t know what you’re doing.  So I bet no one knows you’re here, no one knows you’re missing and no one’s coming for you.”

The look of fear on Blackout’s face told Boss Bruno he was right.

“So I guess I ain’t in any trouble at all.”  He grabbed the girl from behind and mangled her breasts.  Blackout gasped in surprise before regaining her composure.  One meaty hand rose up and tore off her domino mask.  Blackout winced as the spirit gum came loose.

“You’re kind of cute y’know.”

He dropped the mask and cupped her sex through the thin leotard, Blackout grit her teeth.

Then he let laughed and let go.  “I can tell you’re a frigid little bitch.” 

“Fuck you.”

“Nothing like your sister.”

“Sunbeam!  Where is she!  What are you-“

Bruno pushed a button.  The mirror on the wall turned transparent.

Blackout gasped.  “No…”

Sunbeam was naked on her knees while a man took her from behind while another shoved his dick down her throat.

“Your sister’s a lot friendlier than you are.”  Bruno pushed a button and the mirror became reflective again.

“No… no… please… let her go… I’ll do anything.  Anything…”

“Will you fuck me?”

“What!?”

“Right now, wrap those little legs around me, pull me in tight and fuck me like a bitch in heat.  And I’ll let your sister go.”

He raised a hand to her face.  But Blackout recoiled.

“Oh well then.”  He turned to the door.  “Bring it in!”

“What are you-“

SMACK!  The impact cut off Blackout’s question.

“You’re the girl who likes the dark right?  Well we got just the thing for you.”  A thug entered with a bag.  Bruno pulled something out.  It was a leather mask, the same colors as Blackout’s costume but with no eyeholes and with padding on the ears.

“I know how much seeing your sister like that upset you, so I’ll make sure you never have to see anything like that again.”

“What, no!  NO!” 

One of the thugs grabbed her head and held it still while Bruno fit the mask over her face.  They’d measured her while she was unconscious, it fit perfectly.  The pads blinded and deafened the young heroine.  Bruno pulled the straps tight and locked it in place with a tiny padlock.

“Let me go damnit!  Let me go!  I’ll get you!  I swear I’ll get you!”

“Ya sure ya don’t wanna gag her too boss?”

“Damn you!  You can’t do this!  I’m a heroine damnit!  A heroine!”  She kicked wildly. 

“Oh yeah.  You know what happens when you can’t see or hear?  Your mind starts making stuff up to fill the darkness.  Be pretty funny to hear the big bad Blackout go crazy huh?”

“LET ME GO!”  She shrieked.

***

Meanwhile across town, a man in a trench coat stood by the ruins of a collapsed warehouse.

He waited for some time, checking his watch and checking the skies until finally a leggy blonde in a blue and red costume landed next to him. 

Ferret - Warren Herbert

“Sorry!  Sorry!  I was at the school I work at and they had me checking test papers and then we had a staff meeting and I didn’t even hear your ultrasonic radio message until-“

“It’s OK Lynn.  I think I found something.  Look over there.”

“Huh?  Stars and comets Warren, this just some wrecked building, what does it have to do with the Minx?”

“Pretty simple Stella.  At least if you were trained by Night Fox.  You see I started by checking out everyone who’d met with the Minx before she disappeared.  One of them was a psychiatrist named Ashley Acker.”

“OK, so?”

“I talked to the DA and it turn out Ashley Acker was recommended by Zola Zenith.”

“Who?”

“Zola Zenith, the ex-circus acrobat who married the electronics tycoon.  Later she put on a costume and called herself Night Fox Lady.”

“Night Fox Lady?  I never heard of her.”

“She was before you time, before Gloria’s too.  She didn’t last long.  She only put on the costume to impress Night Fox.”

“OK, so this ex-sidekick recommended a psychiatrist.”

“Right, but it turns out Ashley Acker was a fake, she disappeared just after the Minx broke out of jail.  Zola disappeared around the same time, her mansion and her townhouse are empty.”

“So Zola’s up to something.”

“Exactly.  It took some work but I found out Zola bought some property in the warehouse district.  It collapsed a few weeks ago.  Seems there were tunnels under it, they were destroyed in a series of explosions.”

“Yeah, I saw it a couple of days ago.”

“You did?  And you didn’t do anything?”

“Huh?  No, the cops said it was abandoned!  I don’t have time to check out every little thing in the whole city!”

Warren glared at her but said nothing.

“Sorry.  I didn’t know!  Didn’t the cops check it out?”

“No.  Budget cuts.  They just put up this fence and called it an accident.  But now that I know Zola was involved in this-”

“Got it!  Whatever was down there, I’ll find it!”

Stella’s blue eyes turned pale and she stared at the ruins.  Then she frowned.  “Stars and comets, lead pipes, I can’t see anything.”

“Then we do it the hard way.”  Warren picked the lock on the fence and stepped inside.  Stella meekly followed.

***

Sunbeam barely noticed the men picking her up.  The young heroine was lying on the floor, covered in sweat and cum, shivering.  All she wanted was to sleep.  To wake up and find out this was all a terrible dream.  She couldn’t even remember how many times they had taken her.  Now they were moving her.  Maybe they were letting her go?

But there was no relief for the weary girl.  They tossed her in the shower and turned on the cold water.  She shrieked when it hit her but at least it brought it back to reality. 

One of them tossed her some soap.  “Git yerself cleaned up girl, boss wants you.”

Dawn nodded mutely.  She peeled off her gloves and boots, the last traces of her life as ‘Sunbeam’.  It was fitting, she didn’t feel too heroic right now.

She turned her back to the guard, trying to forget he was there.  She applied soap to her lithe body, running it along her arms and legs, applying it generously to her breasts and body, as if she could wash away the things they’d made her do. 

Her mind raced.  What could she do?  Bruno’s thugs were all around and she didn’t even know where she was!  She had to wait for her chance, wait until there weren’t too many guards, or until they were distracted.  She caught sight of the one guard in the room, watching her intently.

A light bulb went off in her mind.

She turned off the water and stepped from the shower.  Standing in front of the guard she stretched one long, fit leg and toweled it off.  Then the other.  Then she rubbed her body with the towel, paying special attention to her pert breasts.  It was the hardest thing she’d ever done but she smiled and winked at the guard as he took everything in.

Then she dropped the towel and faced him.  “Like what you see?”

“Er…”

She walked up to him and put her arms around the thug.  “You didn’t get a taste before did you?  Well, want one now?”

“I wouldn’t mind a-UH!”  Dawn kneed him between the legs and hit his neck with a karate chop.  The guard went down like a sack of bricks.

For the first time since she woke up she gave a real smile.

She pulled on her boots and gloves again and covered herself with the thug’s jacket.  She found a revolver in his pocket and thought about for a second.  She decided to keep it.

“Now I have to find Natalie and get out of here!”

She opened the bathroom door.  The room beyond was empty.  She slipped out and into the corridor.  So far, so good.

She turned left.  The room they had Natalie in was on the other side of the wall, she figured it should be that door there.

She took out the revolver and pulled back the hammer.  She opened the door.

“Hey Dawn!”

Bruno was waiting for her!  With a dozen men!  A dozen more filled the corridor behind her.  And Natalie was hanging behind him, her face covered in some kind of hood.  She pointed the gun at Bruno.

“So I guess you took advantage of poor Rick, he always was a bit slow on the uptake.”

“L-let my sister go or I swear I’ll-“

“What?  Try to shoot me, get beaten up and raped by my men and then get to watch them tear your sister apart?  Is that your big plan?”

“N-no…”  Dawn’s hands started to shake.  The revolver wouldn’t keep still.

“You do love your sister right?”

“Y-yes…”

“Why don’t you put down the gun like a good girl?”

Dawn dropped the gun and fell to her knees.  “Oh God, oh God…” she hyperventilated.  The assembled thugs just watched her.  Finally Boss Bruno stood up and took her hand. 

“Come with me Dawn, and no one will hurt you.”

She nodded meekly and let him lead her out of the room.  She’d failed, it was hopeless!

“Sssh, it’s OK now, you just made a mistake, it happens.  But you realize your mistake now don’t you?”

She nodded mutely.

“And you’ll be a good girl won’t you?”

She nodded again.

Boss Bruno stifled a laugh.  These ‘heroines’ weren’t that different from any other girls he’d broken.  Sure they dressed funny but in the end they had the same buttons as anyone else.  He’d figured Rick would mess up, that’s why Rick’s gun was loaded with blanks.  But she didn’t need to know that.  All Dawn knew was that her last desperate hope had been shattered. 

He took her to a small elevator which brought them upstairs to Bruno’s mansion, right up to his bedroom.  He kept a comforting hand on the frightened girl’s shoulders and led her inside.  There was a dress waiting for her on the bed. 

“Put it on Dawn, I had it made for you.”

It was a yellow and red spandex tube dress, modeled after her ‘Sunbeam’ costume.  It was strapless, barely covering her breasts, with a miniskirt that would barely cover her ass.

There was no underwear of course.

“You can thank me.”

“T-thank you Boss Bruno.”

“Well… put it on.”  He turned his back giving the captive heroine an illusion of privacy.  Dawn hastily removed the guard’s jacket and squirmed into the dress.  It was tight but it fit perfectly.  She wondered distantly when they’d made it, Bruno mentioned he’d been watching them.  For all she knew this had been planned months in advance.

Bruno turned around and kissed her, she returned the kiss.  Their tongues intermingled, she could feel his hand on her ass, he pulled her close, her breasts pushed against his body.  She’d been so scared, somehow being in a man’s arms, even Boss Bruno’s, made her feel safe.  At least when she was with him she wouldn’t be given to his men.

He climbed onto the bed and lay down.

“Y’know, most of the guys downstairs want you and your sister dead.  After what you did them the last few months.  They ain’t the type to forgive and forget.  But I stopped them.”

“T-thanks…”

“I bet you’re wondering what you can do to make it up to me.  Well I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

Dawn hesitated again, and looked around the room.  Bruno was a big guy but with her training, with some luck, she could knock him out while he was… distracted.

But then what?

Glancing at the windows she saw they were barred.  And even if she could get out there’d be men outside.  And her sister would still be prisoner.

And what would she do even if she got out? 

Call the cops?

Boss Bruno owned the cops.

Call the Minx? 

She was missing.

Call Stella?

Dawn had no idea how to contact the Girl of the Stars.

No, it was hopeless.  Even without cuffs or chains Dawn was Boss Bruno’s helpless prisoner.

She closed her eyes and swallowed.  She put on a smile.  She unzipped his pants and took out his dick, she rubbed it with her fingers feeling it grow warm and firm.  She opened her mouth and locked her lips on it, licking its head.

She tried to forget everything else.

***

They’d been digging for hours through the rubble of the old warehouse.  They’d found some fishy things, a room full of weapons, crates of drugs, sacks of cash…  But no sign of the Minx. 

“Stars and comets!  How deep does this thing go!”

“We fought the Puzzler once in these tunnels.  They’re old.  Over a century at least.  Whatever Zola was up to she sure picked the right place to do it.  You know there were rumors…”

“About what?”

“Something about a new crime boss, a woman, moving very aggressively against the existing gangs.”

“So you think the Minx and Zola teamed up to fight her?”

“That’s um… one possibility.”

“Huh?”

“Never mind, just a notion.  Let’s keep digging.”

Stella picked up another chunk of rubble, exposing another room.  This one looked central, with several corridors coming in and out.  There was a tall throne-like chair toppled in one corner and the floor was cracked in half exposing a deep pit.  Body parts stuck out from under a pile of rubble.

Stella gagged.

Warren kneeled down and examined them.  They were men’s hands and feet.  There were also blood stains on the floor, signs of a fight.  He looked at the rubble, there were blast marks on it.

“This wasn’t an accident, someone blew this place up with people inside.”

“You don’t think Gloria would-“

“No, of course not.  Let’s keep looking.  Can you see anything in that pit?” 

Stella shrugged and looked down, her blue eyes once more turning pale.

“Oh no…”

“Stella what is it-“

But the blonde was already flying into the pit.  She vanished into the darkness.  Warren heard a sob from below.

“Stella?  Lynn?  What is it?  What did you find?”

No answer.

“Damn it.  I’m too old for this…”  He muttered.  But he took a line from his coat pocket and tied it to a bit of rebar.  He put his flashlight in his mouth and climbed down.  The pit was deep, going down far into the earth, far below any sewers or tunnels on the city plan.  But Stella was nowhere near the bottom, she was kneeling on a ledge, over a body wrapped in her own cape.

“Stella?”

“I… I found her… she…”  Stella’s voice chocked up.

Warren steeled himself for what he would find.  He’d been Ferret the Wonder Boy since the 40’s this was just another case, just another corpse, just…

He pulled the flap of the cape up.

And shut his eyes.

It was her.

Gloria Barbarossa.

She’d been dead a few days and the body was in bad shape but there was no mistaking that face, those empty eyes staring into nothing, those open lips where no more words would ever pass…

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME SHE WAS DEAD!”  Stella screamed. 

“I didn’t-“

“You promised!  You promised you’d find her!  You promised she’d be OK!”

“Lynn I never-“

“I HATE YOU!  I HATE YOU!”  Her eyes turned red, Warren’s coat started to smoke.  Then she closed her eyes and screamed.  “AHHHH!”

Warren had a second to duck as the Girl of the Stars shot into the air smashing through the rubble like a blue bullet.  He looked up at the ceiling in fear but only a few pebbles rained down.  He breathed a sigh of relief. 

He knelt down and closed Gloria’s eyes and pulled the cape back around her face.  He looked up, it would a long climb, especially with Gloria on his shoulder.  He sighed.

“I’m really too old for this.”

***

Dawn lay next to Boss Bruno in his bedroom.  The room was huge, filled with expensive antique furniture and statues.  She was lying on silk sheets with Bruno’s muscular arm around her slender shoulders.

It would be easy.  So easy.

He was sound asleep.  Snoring. 

She could climb on top and choke him.  Wrap a sheet around his neck to strangle him or even smother him with a pillow.  She could slip into the bathroom, break the mirror and slit his throat with a piece of glass. 

But what good would it do?  There were men everywhere.  And she’d pay the price.  And so would her sister.

She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

***

“Stars and comets I’m sorry, I just…”

“It’s OK Lynn, it’s OK.”

They were back in the penthouse.  When he arrived Warren found Lynn leaning on the balcony just watching the city below.  She was still in costume, her eyes bloodshot with tears.  He put an arm around her shoulders.

“It’s just I never realized how much…”

“I know, I know.  I felt that way when Wes died.”

“She was always so smart, so strong how could this…”

“It’s easy to forget Lynn, under the costumes we’re just people doing a very dangerous job.  And sometimes our luck just runs out.”

Stella sniffled.  “Where…”

“Downstairs, in the Minx Pad.  There’s a freezer there so I can um, so I can examine the uh… check for clues.”

“Hold me…”  Warren hugged the slim blonde and held her for a while.  She cried softly.  It was hard to believe she was one of the most powerful people on Earth, she was so scared, so vulnerable.

Finally he walked her to the couch and they sat side-by-side.

“N-now what?”  She finally asked.

“It’s late.  Tomorrow I’ll examine her, then go back to the site to look for more clues.  Don’t worry Lynn, we’ll find who did this.”

“Good.  Just find them OK?  I’ll take care of them.”

Lynn I don’t-“

“OK?”

“OK…”

They sat in silence for a bit longer.

“What about me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well with Gloria de-, I mean gone, who’ll be my partner now?  I mean I can’t just do everything alone…”

“Well I’ll help you find who did this but I can’t-“

“Please Warren?  Please?  You have to be my partner!  I mean Cousin Ken is gone, Gloria’s gone, you’re all I have left!”

“But I-“

“Please Warren!  I’ll do all the work, I promise!  I just need someone to help me, tell me what to do, I mean, you’re so smart and everything, we’ll be great together, just like me and Gloria, BETTER than me and Gloria!”

Warren got off the couch and backed towards the door.  Stella rolled off the couch and landed on her hands and knees.  She crawled after the middle-aged man.

“Where are you going!  Warren I need you!”

“Lynn I…”

The blonde climbed to her feet and raced in front Warren blocking the door. 

“No!  Wait!  Um…”  She played with her hair, she looked away bashfully.  “You um, you can have sex with me.”

Lynn I don’t think…”

“No, no it’s OK, it’s totally OK, there’s this doctor who can like turn off my powers!  So like, we can have sex any time!  Any time you want!  Any way you want!  Hee-hee, I bet being Night Fox’s partner was never like that!”

Lynn, I… can’t I mean… Look, I’d better go, we can talk tomorrow.”

“What?  Why?  What’s wrong?  Don’t you like me?”

Despite her power Warren had no trouble moving the Girl of the Stars aside and ducking out the door, he hurried and rang for the elevator.

Warren!  What the hell!?  Are you a faggot or something?  Is that it?  Don’t you like girls?”

Lynn…”  He hurried into the elevator.

“If you go I’ll tell everyone!  I’ll tell them Ferret the Wonder Boy is a faggot who hates girls!”

The elevator doors closed.

“Damnit!  Fine!  Go!  And don’t come back!  I don’t need you!  I don’t need ANYONE!”

Then she started to cry.

***

Three limos drove to the outskirts of Megapolis to a modest suburban house set back from the street.

Several men in dark suits spilled out, carefully checking the area.  Finally the opened the door of the middle limo.

Boss Bruno swaggered out.

Behind him came a slim brown-haired girl in a red and yellow dress with sad eyes.  She wiped some cum off her lips and looked up.

“Oh no…”  She muttered.

“What’s the matter Sunbeam?  Ain’t you happy to be home?”

“How did you-“

“Aw my boys have been following you two for weeks.  You two were pretty easy to follow, always taking the same route back to your car and driving right home.  No wonder the Minx thought you were a bunch of morons.”

“Oh…”

He pulled out a key and let himself in.  His men headed right for the basement.

Dawn looked around.  The house had barely changed since her father died.  The family pictures were still on the wall, the piano in the corner, her father’s library on the bookshelves…  Everything was the way it was when she was growing up.

A couple of thugs came up from the basement carrying boxes of chemicals and equipment.

“What are you doing?”

“What?  You didn’t think we’d let that stuff go to waste did you?  Nah.  The army will pay good money for your little toys.  Shame your dad didn’t want to play ball when I talked to him, we could have had these a long time ago, saved you and your sister a lot of grief.”

“Oh… so you’re the one who…”

“Nah.  Your dad dying, that was kind of an accident, one of my boys got a little too angry.  You know me, I never kill someone I can find a use for.”  He leaned in and kissed Dawn.  She turned her face away but he gave her arm a rough squeeze.  She got the hint and accepted the kiss.

“Now come on, let’s go upstairs.”

He led the reluctant girl upstairs, to her own bedroom.  Dawn choked up to see it.  Just a few days ago it had been home.  And now it was part of a life she could never return to.  Tears leaked down her cheeks.

“Want to take anything with you?”

She looked again.  The teddy bear a boy gave her Valentines back in fifth grade.  The picture of her and her sister in Disney Land.  Her high school gymnastics trophy.  Her photo album.  Pictures of mom and dad.  Her diary.

She shook her head no.

Bruno led her out.  “Smart call, I mean none of that junk has anything to do with you now.  May as well make a fresh start right?”

She mutely nodded.

As he led her out she saw more men leaving with her and Natalie’s spare costumes.  And two dead women on the living room floor.

“Who-“

“Just two junkies, no one will miss them.  But they’re around the same height as you and your sister.  Once that amateur lab you had in the basement explodes, the cops won’t even investigate.

“Oh…”

Sure enough as the limos pulled out Dawn saw smoke rising from the basement windows.  Just as they turned the corner there was a tremendous boom.

And that was the end of her old life.

Bruno pulled down the shoulder of her dress, she climbed on his lap and kissed his neck.  This was her new life, and she had to make the best of it.

***

When they got back to Boss Burno’s mansion Dawn was sent down to see her sister.

Natalie, the former Blackout was in a small cell now.  There was a toilet and a sink and a cot.  She was still in the filthy remains of her costume and her head  was covered by the blinding and deafening hood. 

“What!  Who’s there!  I can feel you in here!  Who are you!”

Dawn just looked at her.  Then she rush up and hugged her sister.

“D-Dawn-I mean Sunbeam?  Is that you?”

“Yes Natalie, it’s me, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“I can’t hear you, I can’t hear anything.  Sunbeam if it’s you, squeeze my hand.”

She squeezed her sister’s hand.

“Sunbeam listen, we have to get out of here, I’ve been thinking and I have a plan, we need to get a message to the Minx…”

Dawn sat and listened to he sister’s plan, it made no sense, it was unworkable, besides they both knew the Minx was missing.  But she held her sister and squeezed her hand and muttered words Natalie could not hear.  It was all she could do.

Then when Blackout ran out of words, Sunbeam peeled off Natalie’s costume and washed her sister’s filthy body. 

Finally she dressed her sister in a spare costume and prepared to go.  Natalie took her hand one last time. 

“Sunbeam, listen, whatever you do, don’t tell them anything.  We can’t let them know our secret identities or where we live.  As long as they don’t know that we’ll be safe once we escape.”

Dawn stared at her sister for a long time but finally squeezed her hand ‘yes’ and left the cell.

“So, did you have fun with your sister?”

Dawn nodded mutely.

“That’s good.  You must be so happy that you’re keeping her safe.”

“Um yeah.  Uh Boss Bruno…”

“Yes darling?”

“Maybe someone else could take care of her for a while?  I mean it’s just…”  She choked up and let out a sob.

“There, there, of course my dear.  My men will be happy to take care of her.”

“Thanks Boss…”

***

A few weeks later, a group of limos pulled up outside the Megapolis Plaza, the fanciest hotel in town.  A dozen burley men in expensive suits spilled out and looked around.  Only when they were satisfied did they open the door and Boss Bruno stepped out.  Behind him came two figures in raincoats and large hats.  One seemed to be leading the other.

When he entered the hotel staff and his men had already emptied the lobby.  He got on an elevator and proceeded directly to the rooftop restaurant.  The popular eatery was closed for a very private party.  A cop could have made his career by arresting any one of the dozen guests there.  There were crime bosses from across Megapolis and beyond. 

“Gentlemen, gentlemen, thank you for coming.  I have some good news tonight.”

“You’d better Bruno, if I’m coming here to your turf you’d better have a good reason.”

“Gentlemen as you know for the last 3 years we’ve all had a slight problem with women.  First it was Night Fox’s old squeeze and that flying bimbo.  Then that Miss America chick and finally those bimbos with their smoke and flash bombs.”

“Yeah we know all that Bruno, what’s the point?”

“The point?  Well it’s been a month since anyone saw the Minx.  Stella barely bothers with anything smaller than a giant robot these days and Miss America has her hands full with all the stuff Stella’s letting slide.  So that leaves Blackout and Sunbeam.”

“Yeah?  Well they’re enough, those bitches cost me $20 grand last month.”

“$20 grand?  Well that’s a shame, bet you’d like to get them back for that.”

“You making a point or just wasting our time Bruno?”

“Girls?”

Two figures entered the room one pulling the other by the arm.  She took off her hat, unbuttoned her coat and let it drop to the floor.  She was a slim girl with light brown hair in a tight red and yellow minidress with red stockings.  She smiled but her eyes were tired and sad.

She carefully removed her companion’s hat and coat.  The second girl was shorter and a bit more muscular, she was dressed in a blue and white leotard, similar to old costume but just a bit smaller.  Her face was almost completely covered by a blue leather mask the blinded and deafened her, only her lips were exposed and they were set in a grim line.

 

Blackout - prisonerSunbeam - prisoner

BLACKOUT and SUNBEAM!

 

The taller girl pulled her forward a few steps and addressed the waiting guests..

“H-hello everyone.  M-my name is D-Dawn L-Lux and I…” her voice cracked “I w-was Sunbeam.  And t-this is m-my s-sister N-Natalie.”  She stopped and panted a few times.  Boss Bruno put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and she calmed down.  Dawn’s voice got steadier.  “We… we work for Boss Bruno now.”

She lowered her head and retreated behind Bruno.  He patted her on her head.

“Thank you Dawn.  You all have my assurances that your heroine problems are officially over.”

“Yeah?  How do we know these two are really heroines and not just two of your whores?”

Bruno pulled Dawn close and fondled her breasts through the thin dress.  “Heh, wanna know something funny.  They’re both now.  But Dawn, why don’t you show Klaus over there your credentials.”

Dawn bit her lip but nodded.  She walked up to the crime boss, hips swinging the way Boss Bruno taught her.  She flicked her hair back and sat on his lap, straddling his body with her legs.  She kissed him and ran her fingers through his hair.  She cast a sideways glance at Bruno and he nodded.

She head-butted Klaus and delivered karate chops to both sides of his neck.  The crime boss groaned, his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell out of the chair.

Dawn nervously trotted back to Boss Bruno while the rest watched in stunned silence.

“You see boys, she’s the real thing, and she’s 100% mine.”  He hugged her, she kissed his neck.

“Some show Bruno, glad to hear you’re doing so well.  But what about the rest of us?  Don’t we get a bit of payback?”

“Well funny you should ask, that’s why we’re here.  Dawn?”

Dawn looked at Bruno in horror.  He couldn’t!  He wouldn’t!  Since that first day she’d only been with him!

“Dawn, give them your sister.”

A look of relief crossed Dawn’s face before turning back into horror.

“Unless you’d rather… yourself.”

She shook her head no and nervously took Natalie by the hand.  Holding her sister’s arm and stroking it reassuringly she sat her sister on the table.

“Sunbeam?  Sunbeam what’s going on?”

“Sssh, it’s OK, it’s going to be fine.”  She stroked Blackout’s arm again.

The men laughed.

Dawn let go of her sister’s arm and hurried back to Bruno, seizing his arm and hiding her face.

The men closed in on Blackout, one tore off her flimsy leotard.

“Dawn?  DAWN!”  She screamed.

The door closed and Sunbeam couldn’t hear any more.

***

The next afternoon Stella stretched and strolled into the penthouse.  Funny how sunbathing took so much energy huh? 

They were still delivering dozens of newspapers that Gloria subscribed to.  Out of habit she started to carry them to Gloria’s room, then paused and sighed.  Instead she carried them to the trash.  One headline caught her eye though:

 

Where are Blackout and Sunbeam?

 

By Timmy O’Leary

 

It’s been weeks since this reporter was able to contact the Light Crusader and Dark Avenger, they’ve not been seen on patrol and the police no longer find blinded criminals tied up in alleyways…

 

“Huh?  Weren’t those the two girls who were always bugging Gloria?  I guess they finally gave up.”

She tossed the paper and headed for the shower.  She had an appointment with Dr. Corvidae later!

 

 

Afterword

 

Writing Blackout and Sunbeam was a lot of fun.  Two bickering sisters trying to be superheroes made for a pretty entertaining combination.  And showed that, whatever her problems, the Minx was pretty darn good at her job.

 

As for the subplot his issue, some people have accused me of pulling a trick with the Minx’s death.  After all the old rule is ‘no body, no death.”  Well I hope this puts an end to all that! 

 

She’s dead!

 

Really!

 

Honest!

 

Would I lie?

 

Marcus_Lycus@hotmail.com

 

Next Issue – Everyone knows that Stella is the most powerful woman in the world.  Or is she?  When a mysterious flying woman comes to Megapolis Stella might just find herself replaced.  

 

Be back for Issue 29: Enter Celestia!


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